It’s hard to believe that our New Balance Girls on the Run 5K Run is just a little over a month away. That’s right — on Sunday, May 23rd at 7:30 am over 3,000 GOTR girls and their buddy runners will gather at George Mason University in Fairfax to celebrate all that they have accomplished by participating in the Spring season of Girls on the Run.

Unlike other 5Ks, the Girls on the Run 5K is a celebratory run rather than a competitive race. The goal of the run is to provide the girls who participate in the Spring program with a race day experience complete with bib numbers, timing chips, a race announcer, and cheering fans at the finish line and a way to measure how they did in achieving their personal goal for the run.  Each and every girl who enters the 5K is a winner and the only competition any girl should feel is that she creates for herself as she strives to meet her personal goal whether that goal is simply to finish or to better her time from last year’s run.

In keeping with the non-competitive nature of the 5K run, we are no longer timing the buddy runners who participate in the run. After all, the goal of the buddy runner is to ensure that the girl they are running with has a fun, safe, and enjoyable race day experience.  And since the job of the buddy runner is to stay with the girl they are there to support, the time of the buddy runner should be exactly the same as the girl they are running with. So for us here at GOTR NOVA, not timing the buddy runners was a no brainer. And to make the decision even sweeter, the money we saved by not providing timing chips to this Spring’s buddy runners allowed us to provide 72 full scholarships for girls in our Spring program.  Just seemed like a win/win situation to us.

So to all the girls out there getting ready for the 5K, we hope you have a wonderful race day experience and feel amazing accomplishment at achieving your personal race day goal. And for all the buddy runners getting psyched to run with their special girl, thank you so much for making the New Balance Girls on the Run 5K one incredible race day experience for your runner and all the amazing runners who have made the Spring Girls on the Run season so incredible.

As I look out my office window at the trees starting to bud, I find it hard to believe that just one short month ago we were grappling with whether or not to extend Spring program registration because of snow.  Well, time moves on and now we have just completed the first week of the Girls on the Run Spring program.  All over Northern Virginia, girls are getting together to talk about what it means to be part of a team and starting to prepare for the New Balance Girls on the Run 5K to be held on May 23^rd.

I know that coaches, girls, and parents focus on the Girls on the Run program at their school (as you should), but I also wanted you to know and appreciate that we are all part of a collective and amazing coalition of girl power.  Here are a few stats from our Spring program registration:

• 3,129 girls are currently taking part in Girls on the Run in Northern Virginia
• Nearly 30% of those girls are receiving some kind of financial assistance from Girls on the Run of NOVA
• 159 schools in our area have a Girls on the Run program
• 41 schools have more than one Girls on the Run program
• 208 parents told Girls on the Run of NOVA that they would like to volunteer (we’ll be in touch!)
• The New Balance Girls on the Run 5k run has capacity for 7,200 runners!

 With stats like those, you really do get a feel for what a large role Girls on the Run plays in our community.  And, if you have any doubt, please join us on May 23^rd at George Mason University’s Fairfax campus where all that girl power will be in full swing, even at 7:30 am when the 5K run starts!

A little over a week ago, Girls on the Run stormed the General Assembly in Richmond.  I say stormed because nine of us split into three teams and managed to meet with all 37 Northern Virginia delegates in one day!

The teams were made up of Girls on the Run staff members, Board members, and coaches.  Each team had pre-arranged meetings with our Northern Virginia delegates and state senators.  At each meeting, we told the Girls on the Run story and asked for help spreading the word about our program.  We also assured the folks we met with that we were not asking for any money because we knew there was none to be had, but that we wanted them to know about our wonderful program so they would keep us in mind when funding became available.

 Girls on the Run was also recognized on the floor of the House of Delegates and the floor of the State senate – talk about spreading the word!  And, in addition to having the best-laid plans, we also had a little luck with us.  We happened to run into Governor Bob McDonnell and were able to tell him about Girls on the Run, present him with a Girls on the Run t-shirt and Reindeer Romp medal, and give him a packet of information on our program. 

 And thus the first Girls on the Run of Northern Virginia Advocacy Day was born.  I’m not sure the General Assembly will ever be the same.  More than one person was heard to say, “Who are all those women in black pants carrying canvas bags?”  Canvas Girls on the Run coaches bags of course.

Here at Girls on the Run, we’re used to challenges.  Like managing over 200 programs with just 2 program staff.  Finding ways to keep our promise of never turning a girl away for financial reasons.  Even persuading local companies to pass their less than perfect office furniture on to us (thank you Argon ST!).

But, really, dealing with a record 32.4 inches of snow the week we open Spring program registration!  This is definitely new territory for us (for all of us).

As with all new territory, all we can do is look at the horizon to try and see what’s coming next and come up with a plan based on our best guess.   So, that’s where we are with registration. Read the rest of this entry »

Ever since I joined Girls on the Run of NoVA last summer, my 10-year old son has been bummed because I work for an organization that focuses on girls of all things.  But when I told him and my 5-year old daughter that I needed a few minutes of quiet so I could write my Girls on the Run blog, my new job suddenly seemed cool to him.  In his mind, people blog about exciting things like building Legos, watching “Star Wars the Clone Wars,” and Tony Hawk skateboard tricks.

I’m not sure if my blog will ever be able to compete with all that, but I’m hoping that it will give you a front row seat into all that is happening here at Girls on the Run of NoVA.  And, that your front row seat motivates you to get into the action by letting us know how you feel about what we’re doing and where we’re heading (and maybe even volunteering to help us get there).

So, here in no particular order are some of the things we’ve been up to. Read the rest of this entry »